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Auckland, New Zealand
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March 30th, 2017
Well here I am. I’m 50. What does that mean? Is it any different to 49?
Are my best years behind me or ahead of me? Will I descend into a series of aches and pains and the general mental and physical flabbiness of middle age?
If my 30s & 40s were the summer of my life, am I now in autumn? What do I really want to spend the next tranche of my life doing? What is and what will be, my legacy?
To answer these questions and many more, at one weeks notice, I have come to a trail used by thousands of pilgrims over hundreds of years. The Camino de Santiago. This is the series of routes in Spain and Portugal used by pilgrims to reach Santiago de Compestela to reach the relics of St James.
The full journey is usually 800 kms but 100 kms is recognised as the minimum to be awarded a certificate de compestela showing completion of the pilgrims journey.
My journey is 270km in 14 walking days on the Camino de Portuguese, one of the nine Caminos in Spain.
The smallest day walking is 17 kms and the largest 33kms, taking me from Oporto in Portugal to Santiago de Compestela in Spain and a pilgrims mass at the cathedral.
The destination is important but this trip for me is about the journey.
My good friend Graham Ryan asked me whether this was a pilgrimage. I answered “What is a pilgrimage?” Meaning what it is to one person, is not what it is to another.
Having time to be alone without the clutter of everyday life, is a special and unique opportunity. Working out along the way some MLC answers will make it a pilgrimage of sorts, I guess.
First, I am in Madrid from the 2nd to spend time honing my Spanish and checking out one of the worlds great footballing cities. From there I fly to Oporto on the 4th to start my walk on the 6th. This blog is written for me. It will collect my thoughts and chronicle my journey, some of the answers or questions I pose and the people I meet. If you are reading this, I’ve decided to share my MLC with you. 😀 Buen Camino!
Starting weight: 90.4k
WILLERTONS WORLD 